Postdoctoral Research Associate
Requirements
Candidates should have experience preparing and working with human precision-cut lung slices, extensive tissue culture experience, and expertise characterising cellular senescence. They should also be skilled in imaging, assay development and standardisation, qRT-PCR, immunoassays, flow cytometry, ELISA or cytokine bead arrays, and Western blotting.
Job Description
Grade UE07: £41,064 - £48,822 per annum
School/Department: School of Regeneration and Repair, Centre for Inflammation Research
Full Time: 35 hours per week
Fixed term: 6 months
The Opportunity:
Where discovery never stops. Be part of something bigger.
Here, you can continue to make a difference in everything around you. Take on new challenges, grow your career, be recognised for your contributions, and benefit from our commitment to your wellbeing. Be part of something bigger — where your work has real impact and your development matters. There are so many reasons to take your next step with us.
The University of Edinburgh is a world-class organisation. We look for the best in the field across all disciplines and provide a working environment where academics can develop their careers and passion for their chosen subject area. We offer the full range of academic roles and have a genuine focus on our students’ performance and wellbeing.
We are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Cellular Senescence in Lung Injury. A postdoctoral research position defining the contribution of cellular senescence to lung injury and inflammation in translationally relevant human models will be funded by the Baillie Gifford Pandemic Science Hub (BG PSH) which was created with philanthropic support from Baillie Gifford and comprises scientists, clinicians, professional services staff and students united in a common goal to use human genetics and experimental medicine to rapidly find and test the effects of drugs. The successful candidate will use a novel, high content, image analysis-based cell painting assay to define characteristics of senescent cells and their response to known senolytic drugs. They will optimise this process for use as a high throughput screen to identify novel senolytic / senomorphic drugs from available drug libraries. The senolytic potential of lead candidate molecules will be tested in a clinically relevant human precision cut lung slice model of irradiation-induced senescence.
Your skills and attributes for success:
- Experience of preparing and working with working with human Precision Cut Lung Slices (PCLS).
- Extensive tissue culture experience, including established cell lines and primary cell culture and characterisation of cellular senescence.
- Imaging techniques including multiplex - IHC and ICC, live cell imaging and confocal microscopy.
- Assay development (including high throughput application) and standardisation
- Expertise in qRT-PCR and immunoassays including Flow Cytometry, ELISA/ cytokine bead array and Western blotting
People have always been at the heart of our work. As part of the University, you are a part of our community. We are looking for people with drive, determination, and a passion for what they do.
A career with us has a range of other benefits that can be tailored to your lifestyle:
- Professional development and subject matter expertise
- Opportunities to develop new skills and broaden your experience
- Leading-edge research
- Opportunities for publication
This post is full-time (35 hours per week); however, we are open to considering part-time working patterns. This role requires presence onsite for lab work and therefore hybrid work cannot be offered for this role.
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How to apply
As part of this application, you are required to upload a cover letter/statement of not more than one page detailing how you meet each of the essential criteria as outlined on the job description and a CV. These items should be uploaded as one single combined document in either PDF or Word format.
As a valued member of our team, you can expect:
- A competitive salary.
- An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
- To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
- Comprehensive Staff Benefits, including generous annual leave entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, a wide range of staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page (opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the value of your pay and benefits.
Championing equality, diversity, and inclusion
The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter, and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.
We’re committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive. At IRR we celebrate diversity in all its forms and actively seek to create a team that reflects the communities around us. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences, and identities.
Prior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages (opens new browser tab)
The closing date for applications is 4 November 2026.
Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.
We anticipate that interviews will be held within 2-3 weeks of the advert closing date.
As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.
The Centre for Inflammation Research (CIR) is a world-leading centre dedicated to understanding the mechanisms of inflammation and translating these insights into new therapies for inflammatory diseases. Part of The Institute for Regeneration and Repair (IRR), CIR brings together discovery science, clinical expertise, and cross-disciplinary innovation to improve human health across the lifespan.
Our mission is to transform the understanding and treatment of inflammation through cutting-edge research, inclusive collaboration, and impactful translation. By uniting discovery scientists, clinicians, chemists, engineers, and industry partners, we aim to develop innovative tools, therapies, and strategies that address pressing global health challenges.
Our research is structured across three interconnected themes - Infection and Immunity, Damage and Repair, and Experimental Medicine - providing a powerful framework for scientific collaboration and translational excellence.
Together, these themes investigate how inflammation starts, progresses, and resolves, and how it contributes to both health and disease. Through advanced experimental models, patient-focused research, and state-of-the-art technologies, we accelerate discovery and ensure our work leads to meaningful, real-world impact.
Centre for Inflammation Research website (https://inflammation-research.ed.ac.uk/) (opens in a new browser tab)
The Institute for Regeneration and Repair
The Institute for Regeneration and Repair (IRR) is cross-College with staff and students from the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine (CMVM) School of Regeneration and Repair (SRR) and the College of Science and Engineering (CSE), School of Biological Sciences and School of Chemistry. The School of Regeneration and Repair is one of six schools in CMVM.
At IRR our scientists and clinicians study tissue regeneration and repair to advance human health and reproductive outcomes. The Institute incorporates three leading research centres with a focus on regenerative medicine, inflammation and reproductive health. Our Director is Professor Stuart Forbes.
IRR has a 5-year income of over £200M and is a collaborative hub for commercial, clinical and academic endeavour. Based at Edinburgh BioQuarter we bring together world leading research expertise to drive understanding and deliver clinical and translational outcomes.
IRR has a work environment built on trust and encourages the very best talent from all backgrounds and at all levels to join us. A diverse team strengthens our ability to innovate and support cutting-edge world leading research. Supporting and empowering our team at all levels is central to our approach.
Our team is ambitious, acts with integrity and demonstrates commitment to progress and impact. We aim to achieve excellence in all that we do, always being principled, considerate and respectful.
Institute for Regeneration and Repair website (https://regeneration-repair.ed.ac.uk/ ) (opens in a new browser tab)